Janus de Visser

Low Cost Design

What it is:A beautifully photographed collection of simple, nifty and cheap designs from all over the world by Daniele Pario Perra and Emiliano Gandolfi. It’s a tribute to the problem solving mind and some are so elegant it’s hard to notice what you look at. When I met Daniele Pario Perra at the Multiple XX gallery at the Amsterdam Kunst Rai, an important art fair in Holland, his enthusiasm and love for this project was overwhelming, something that is reflected in the book.

We’re all font of good designs and we spent loads of money to acquire the smartest, most beautiful ideas and we tend to forget the origin of such innovation; problem solving in our everyday life. The Low Cost Design project reminds us of our own capabilities to create and innovate and how people around the world are doing that without any real means.

The best project is not necessarily the one that is patented, that is created by architectural firms or at the computer by leading companies, but rather the one that springs from the simplicity of daily life. - lowcostdesign.org